Tachigui Sushi Ginza Onodera / First maguro auction 2022

Tachigui Sushi Ginza Onodera (立喰鮨 銀座おのでら) / First maguro auction 2022 (初競りマグロ 2022年)

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🍣 Sushi / 📍 Omotesando

📓 Visits: 1

The 2023 first maguro auction was again won by Yamayuki/Onodera. Despite the fish costing more than double this year, Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera / Tachigui Sushi Ginza Onodera served the same 'ichiban maguro set' at the same price of JPY 1,040.

The most sought-after sushi in Japan today was from the top bluefin tuna purchased at the first auction of the year at Toyosu Market.  This annual event always makes the news in Japan and the international press.

A detailed article explains what happened during this year's bidding.  There's a video (in Japanese) where you can see some of the action, including the whole fish being brought into the restaurant.  If none of this makes any sense I'd suggest this long read which has all the background.

As you can see in the table below, the auction price varies greatly from year to year.

Year	Price	Weight	Price/kg	Winner
2011	¥32.49 m	342 kg	¥95,000	Ricky Cheng, Kyubey
2012	¥56.49 m	269 kg	¥210,000	Sushi Zanmai
2013	¥155.4 m	222 kg	¥700,000	Sushi Zanmai
2014	¥7.36 m	230 kg	¥32,000	Sushi Zanmai
2015	¥4.51 m	180 kg	¥25,000	Sushi Zanmai
2016	¥14 m	200 kg	¥70,000	Sushi Zanmai
2017	¥74.2 m	212 kg	¥350,000	Sushi Zanmai
2018	¥36.45 m	405 kg	¥90,000	Yamayuki
2019	¥333.6 m	278 kg	¥1,200,000	Sushi Zanmai
2020	¥193.2 m	276 kg	¥700,000	Sushi Zanmai
2021	¥20.84 m	208 kg	¥100,000	Yamayuki
2022	¥16.88 m	211 kg	¥80,000	Onodera Group, Yamayuki

Sushi Zanmai has made the winning bid most often and holds the record for highest bid in 2019 but Yamayuki (supplier to some of the top sushi restaurants in Tokyo) has won in 3 out of the last 5 years.  And indeed, this year Yamayuki won again, purchasing the tuna on behalf of the Onodera Group who operate a number of sushi restaurants in Tokyo and around the World.  I've reviewed Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera here.  I intended to revisit today but by the time I got there (7pm) they were no longer accepting new customers.  Panic averted: co-located is Tachigui (standing) Sushi Ginza Onodera and after about 30 mins wait outside I got myself seated, I mean standing, at the counter.

The tuna was served as an 'ichiban maguro set' comprising one piece of akami and one piece of chutoro and priced at JPY 1,040.  Somewhat disappointingly, but fully understandably, the set was limited in sales to one per customer but you could place separate orders for other tuna that, as with all the tuna at Onodera, had been supplied by Yamayuki as well.  This happened to be much better than the tuna I had on my visit to Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera a couple of weeks ago but temperature control was a problem with all the tuna being too cold.  The akami in the ichiban maguro had a much stronger flavour while the chutoro was milder.  I also placed a separate order for the uni which was not good quality and reinforced my stance about avoiding expensive neta in cheaper sushi restaurants.  Otoro from the ichiban maguro was not available but had what had been served been served at the proper temperature the tuna would have been perfect.  I guess you needed to go to main restaurant in Ginza for all of that.

Standing sushi is meant to be about speed but service was slower compared with the kaiten.  First the lengthy wait outside, even though there was space at the counter.  There are 7 spaces but chef (just the one) never had more than 5 people in at a time.  Most of the neta was not pre-cut.  The menu is shorter than at the kaiten sushi but again, lamentably, you need to be able to read Japanese to order as no translations are available.  If you can manage that and the tuna is as high quality as it was today then if you can get a seat at the kaiten and allow the sushi to come up to temperature yourself you might be able to get what you came for.  For Tachigui specifically, hard to recommended on a normal day but a life memory for me: first ever standing dining experience and first hatsumaguro.  Will I live longer now?

📌 https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1306/A130602/13264173/

❓ My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 3.65

📱 Booking: No bookings.

📍 Location: Same as Kaiten Sushi Ginza Onodera

📅 Visit January 2022

Nodoguro 720
Uni 930
Akami zuke 510x2
Chutoro 620
Otoro 930x2
Ichiban maguro set 1040

💴 Damage: 6,190
⏱️ Time taken: 1h10m (40m eating, 30m waiting)